I would have prefered it if they had started the hype later as now all the hype has fizzled out, at least for me. I will still buy Diablo III, I will still love it, and it will still ruin my real life, but at this point in time I don't care any more, with no release date in sight and no chance of ever getting into the beta there's just no reason to keep stressing over it.

no release date in sight? they keep saying how they are omitting things just to release it earlier. and with the conference call on february 9th id say a release date is definitely in sight. in sight = next 4-6 weeks.

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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack

"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson

Just to repeat, as some people simply think a designer has left D3 (which I think a designer did leave in the past - even the head of art left I believe?). It was the lead producer who left.

As a screenwriter/film maker, I can say with assurance that a producer on a film doesn't just leave before it's done. They are there every step of the way. I would assume a LEAD producer on a AAA game is the same.

If they aren't the same then, that's cool. Except why is Blizzard currently hiring a new one? Why did his announcement to leave come right after the new changes were announced by Jay Wilson?

I'm not calling out a conspiracy. I'm just saying that something seems off in Diablo development land.

They could easily show things at Blizzcon and make tons of cash off it if if they wanted to put something together. But instead they said themselves that Blizz con is cancelled for development reasons. They need to get us our games ASAP - yet they've also told us every step of the way that they will take all the time they want to release it. Perhaps some investors are getting impatient on the side? Perhaps the pressure is rising at camp D3 to where they are having to cut a lot of ideas and game sections just to get this sucker out.

Don't get me wrong - I could be wrong with my intuition and blatant assumption on this one. I admit that. I wonder if the problems with new Blizz games runs deeper than the obvious. I think WoW being so successful has cast a shadow over their other titles and made them work harder than ever to make them live up to the addictive gameplay that is WoW. Instead I think it may be making them spend more time than needed and even question themselves more while making games like Diablo 3 and SC2. I could be wrong, they could possibly have it all in hand, but things do seem off lately.

There could be countless personal reasons for the former producer to leave now.
Beside its not like D3 development stops just because D3 is released, as there will be expansions etc, so I dont think it is a big wonder they would be looking for a new lead producer for the Diablo team, even if D3 was ready to be released tomorrow.

I definitely think you are correct that the pressure is rising on getting D3 out though. How could it not be. It is certainly in the best interest of Blizzards owners, as well as the team itself.
While Blizzard can be slow to release their games, nobody can delay indefinitely.

Tbh I think Diablo 3 is a rather difficult game for Blizzard to develop even compared to their other games. Nobody has ever really managed to make a game that could outshine Diablo 2 in the genre. So many attempts with Diablo clones over the years. Some better than others, but none who (imo) could beat Diablo 2 (ignoring the fact that D2 is very old by todays standards of course).

Strategy games are much more well-defined in which aspects that work and which dont, and it was a clear goal from Blizzard not to alter the Starcraft formula too much when they made it, as they wanted to keep the e-sport crowd/fans who still played/watched SC1.
A strategy that wouldnt have worked well for Diablo 3 - no matter how much some people argue that they really just want Diablo 2.5.

Regarding the topic of the thread, I think the main mistake from Blizzard was announcing the game 1-2 years too early. It is a damn long time to keep people interested and trying hard to spread your PR announcements out thinly over all those years. Which makes the process seem a bit silly by now, because of the time we have been following it.

entity dont be scared my little pink Uni-rabbit.....................its coming and it will be super good

ye stuff has changed in game and in house over the years since alpha....but its gona be fine

stay with us, dont stray into the darkside, there are bad people over there

Not nessecarily. Blizzcon is where they showcase whatever they have, I doubt MoP will be out until after August and Same with HoTS, I mean if they plan to release D3 in mid year then HoTS will be released late with MoP around christmas time. Not only that they could start to showcase Titan. I mean it's been in development for a good ~3 years maybe four can't really remember but that is about how long it took them to start showcasing Diablo 3. I think if anything It's because they feel Blizzcon takes up too much time and it diverges from them making good games. Plus they don't want a repeat of D3 ever again where they constantly have to feed the public and then gett torn a new asshole by them because they feel shit just dont look good. But once everyone plays beta they're all like I WANT MOAR ITS AWESHUM... so really they should have a blizzcon this year and if not they have to have one next year no ifs ands or buts otherwise they'll never show off anything.

They wouldn't showcase Titan even if there was a Blizzcon this year. The idea that Blizzcon takes time away from Devs may make sense, but it's really not the main issue.

They really have absolutely nothing to show at one, so instead of naming it Blizzcon where there are certain expectations from people, they call it an eSports tounrment where no one is expecting new information.

2012 is the year of D3, MoP, and HOTS. There's nothing else to do with those games besides release them, so no reason for a Blizzcon.

Actually Titans been in production for just about 5 years, In 07 they started job listings so give or take a year or two from that to get the team assembled fully, and start working thats 3 years of work done on titan, unless they're really slow with this one. That would put them right around showcase time. D3 started in 05 announced in 08, Titan started in 07(~09 if you dont include the time it probably took to assemble the team) still hasn't been announced yet. Honestly this is a better time than any to have a Blizzcon. They'll be showcasing a whole new series, what mroe could you want. Not only that they could start providing some minor details to the third Sc2 expac, because by then we should have HOTS, and then the decline of WoW and how they'll phase out of that, maybe even start hinting at a WC4... This would be a better time than any to have Blizzcon.

Titan is certainly due up for announcement. Unless the game is huge and they aren't even close to having it ready.

Last Blizzcon they said they were close to full scale production, so obviously they have some of it down but they haven't started working fully. And I think Pardo said Blizzcon 2012 announcement probably not. but still probably means they're looking to show us it soon.

Funny how we "know that" despite the retrosective cinematic from Bliz themselves clearly saying "since 2000", and then clearly showing a bunch of concept art from '02-'03 that looks alot like current game assets.

Titan started in 07(~09 if you dont include the time it probably took to assemble the team) still hasn't been announced yet. Honestly this is a better time than any to have a Blizzcon. They'll be showcasing a whole new series, what mroe could you want. Not only that they could start providing some minor details to the third Sc2 expac, because by then we should have HOTS, and then the decline of WoW and how they'll phase out of that, maybe even start hinting at a WC4... This would be a better time than any to have Blizzcon.

While you are right they would have what to show in Blizzcon, especially considering massive profits it brings ('11 - $37 mln.), however it takes time from the developers, and Blizz is behind on some (if not all) projects. IMO they just calculated they would make more cash just focusing on getting games faster out this year, instead of selling the show.

spinning on the whole "guild wars" is subpar to me comment I'd like to add that guild wars sold more copies than diablo 2 and is still vastly popular, that you dislike how the game plays is understandable tho because it is a pretty unique game. That however doesn't mean that it is subpar. Give the game a proper spin and you might just be surprised, I know I was atleast.

That said I'm not quite seeing the point here, they've done nothing particulary annoying so far and aside from some questionable functions (removing ID scrolls, so now we have to stand around identifying for a couple of seconds per item instead?) I don't see what the big fuss is about. The joke seems to be on you as you're just blatantly throwing around untruthful claims in your post.

Funny how we "know that" despite the retrosective cinematic from Bliz themselves clearly saying "since 2000", and then clearly showing a bunch of concept art from '02-'03 that looks alot like current game assets.

Well that's the time that the new D3 team took over, so i'm couting it as 05 as production, 2000 might've started story development and artwork but the production of the D3 we know now started in 05 when the new team took over, Hell go take a look in Kotaku's archives they got photos of the D3 before 05.. and it aint pretty.

Official Blizzard Quote:

You ppl think to much...over-dramatizing events, thinking worst case scenariors, making up conspiracy theories, one after another -.-
i'm looking forward to the game too, and think these late, large system changes are weird. but seriously...just chill.
they dont have any obligation to get the game out by the time you want it. they have always, and will always release a game, when they think it's finnished, not when whiney self-centered fanboys want it.
this crap is like watching Worst Idol auditions ever. some ppl just have no self awareness what so ever.
get a grip on reality, and stop bitchin

like others said, they havnt pushed anything back, cause they haven't even given any release date yet.
they just said they were AIMING for Q4 2011, then Q1 2012. AIMING!
there's still plenty of time before end of Q1. and it's still AIMING! they have NOT stated that they WILL release the game Q1.

okay, i am a bit of frustrated, not by the fact that they are keep pushing it back but the changes they keep making. I mean wtf!? beta should be testing, yes! bug fixing, yes, polishing the game to push it till release. but changing the entire system? shouldnt they be doing that before the beta? or internal alpha? Does blizzard lack of capable programmers or designers since the original diablo team left for Torchlight?

Just look at all the latest changes, removing MAJOR components of the game, such as artisan, which probably changing story lines. and the changes to demon hunter. Can they not think of that before even start building the game?

It is waaaay beyond polishing! I know blizzard is rich and all that, but this is just lame! Can you imagine, you have an assignment at school, which might not be perfect, but you tell your teacher that in order to make it "perfect" you want to change everything, and delay your deadline? will your teacher appreciate that? I dont think so. This means that as a company, that they dont know what they are doing, they lack of directory.

Maybe they end result will not be bad for a game, but i doubt if it will keep up with previous blizzard standards! I dont know any statistic, but as far as i can tell, SCII was not as successful as SC1. not even WC3.

Blizzard made a killing with WOW, and they are slacking with its "single" player games. for a tech company, if they cannot triumph their own, or lack of innovation, is the beginning of their downfall!

Titan refers to two things: It’s an new IP MMO AND a development platform (or building framework).

The big deal is not the new MMO (I’ll come to it after), the big deal is the TITAN platform and Blizzard is willing to bet his future on it.

To be clear, when I’m talking about the TITAN platform I don’t refer to an addon system or a user generated extension.
TITAN the MMO is written from the ground up with the TITAN platform.
TITAN the MMO is the showcase of the TITAN platform to promote its adoption.

The TITAN platform will be open to third party developers. You’ll be able to create any kind of game (MMO, RTS, etc) and Blizzard will take a reasonable cut of the profits.
In exchange Blizzard will provide the platform, a world editor, NPC editor, its clients base, all kind of services from group matching, security, communication and social features, inventory management, achievements and screenshots tools, cross-game housing, etc.

To find an analogy, Blizzard will attempt to do the same as Apple did for smartphones with the Appstore. A kind of portal to virtual worlds with a gaming social network around.

“It’s a game changer.”.

What are the arguments to support the above?

1) Codename TITAN

Not a point but the start of an itch. A codename is not chosen randomly by developers, often it refers to the project or the spirit in which the project is done.

So what could “TITAN” mean for a Blizzard developer?

In Warcraft lore, the Titans are a god-race of creators. They create new races and new worlds. For a developer Titan means an awesome builder (raising terrain, adding buildings, creating life to inhabit the new lands...). The big emphasize about Titan is CREATION.source

4

Thanks to Rob Pardo, Executive Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard, we have an update on how development at Titan is going:

there are currently around 90 developers working on the project, up from 40-50 one year ago.

it's in pre-production R & D (research and development) phase right now, but they're looking to go into full production as soon as possible.

they're not currently specifically planning on getting it out for consoles too, but it is something to consider further down the road.

"probably unlikely" for next year's Blizzcon... they feel they have always announced their games too early in the past, so now they want to see how much they can hold out with this one.

very big game, with brand new technology, it's important to first get in place all the tools needed by the artists.

people won't expect what will be coming, when they'll finally announce it.

In this new MMO, each player would have two "lives": the first one is a sort of Sims Online, a giant hub of social interaction and the possibility of connecting with his second life. One which will consist of first person combat.